Self-aligning self-lubricating bearing and method of forming the same



LWHELBTM N. SKKLLMAN Feb 24, 1193 l.

LF ALIGNING SELF LUBRICATING BEARING AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAMEFiled April 19. 1928 All-AW enema Feb. 24, 19,31

,YA-H -UNI ',I"ED STATES PATENT OFFICE i NEWTON SKILLMAN, OI HIGHLANDPARK, MICHIGAN, ABSIGNOB IO 0. k 8. BEABIIG 00., O1 DETROIT, IIICHIGAIBA CORPORATION 01 IIGEIGAII I saw-manure sm-Lcnmcarine ammo. 4m)mrrrron or roams m K v sum mum; filed April 1a, 1028.

This invention relates to, a self-ali g self-lubricating bearing andmethod of orming the same. It has to do particularly with an extremelysimple and compact bearing for supportin and automatically alignin crossbrake sha s-for automobile chassis rames,

' although it is not in any way restricted thereto. In the past,considerable difliculty has been experienced .in aligning the bearingsand cross brake shafts for automobile frames or the like due toinaccuracies in initial fabrication and assembly. Attempts have beenmade to design hearings to take care of this inaccuracy of alignment,but suchattempts have involved complicated and expensive bearingsupports, and particularly so with bearing supports of the self-aligningselflubricating type.

It is .the object of the present invention to provide an extremelycompact, adjustable,

self-aligning bearing member for rotatable.

' shafts comprisin an inner bearing member of substantial sp ericalshape and having a self-lubricating bushing directly receiving andsupporting a rotatable shaft, and a second spherical bearing member alsohaving a self-lubricating bushing for resiliently and adjustablysupporting the main spherical bearing member, the said outer sphericalbearing member being preferably formed integrally with asupporting platefor the entire unit. Another important feature of the resent inventionrelates to the method of fa ricating and forming this complete unit,wherein the outer spherical bearin member is initially formed from acylindrical tubing, the in ner spherical bearing member, the lubricantimpregnated fibrous material between the two bearing members and thesupporting plate all being positioned centrally of this tubing, and saidtubing stamped or formed into a substantial spherical shape locking saidcentral bearing member in position and being integrally secured to saidsupporting late in one operation.' Other important eatures as tostructure and method will be brought out in the specification andclaims. Inthe drawings:

tratinfg the final step, and showing the manner o distorting and formingthe completed bearing 1n one operation. i

F1 3 is a detail view of the complete as.- semb ed bearing formedintegrally with the supporting.,-plate.

. Fig. 4.- is a plan view of the bearing shown in Fig.3. A I

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 and illustrating a modified method offorming my novel bearing structure.

Fi 6 is a view similar to Fi 2 illustrating t e final step of formingtis modified bearing structure. I

The present invention relates primarily to the forming of aself-lubricating self-ad- HEISSUEU) or other place with a minimum oftime and r-.

expense. It is believed that the invention and the article may be bestillustrated by first describing the method of fabrication and assembly.a

The main bearing bearing assembly spherical bearing w ich may be desiated 1 and which is preferably spherical in shape and formed from apiece of straight cylindri cal tubing. This spherical bearing memberisprovided on the interior thereof with compressed lubricant im regnatedfibrous material 2 which is rigi ly expended and compressed into shapewith the forming of the bearing member 1, whereby to directly receiveandsupport a rotatable shaft or other element. This bushing 2 beingresilient and of lubricant impregnated fibrous material will thorou hlyand continuously lubricate the shaft being supported and will also, dueto its resiliency, wear for an unusually long time. V

In assembling a completed hearing, I referably utilize a piece ofstraight cylin ical metallic tubin 3, which is of predetermined Idiameter and ength, and also of compara- 'tively thin walls. Within thistubing 3 as show in Fig. 1, I place a strip of woven l ab- .ric 4impregnated with a suitable lubricant. 'This strip 4 is formed from aflat straight 5 strip cut to length. Inside of this strip 4 I next placethe spherical bearing member 2 so that the strip 4 and the member 2 arepref- I erably centrally positioned of the tube 3.

, On the outside of the tubing 3 and approximately centrally thereof, asshown in Fig. 1, I position a supporting plate 5, such plate beingprovided with a suitable aperture for receiving the member 3. Thisentire assembly, as shown in Fig. 1, is'compressed by suitable dies andformed into the shape shown in Fig. 2 in one operation- The tub'e'3 isformed into an outer bearing substantially spherical in shape, and isdistorted as at 6 to lock the late 5 mto fixed central position. Thiscom ete fabrication and assembly of the unit 1n one 0 oration, may beaccom plished in many di erent ways and in Figs. 1 and 2, I havediagrammatically illustrated one method of accomplishing the same- Inthe particular embodiment shown, the bearing 1, the bushing 4, and theplate 5, are held centrally of the outer tubing 3 by means of a ilot 7and locating pins 8. The upper and owe-r die members are then broughttogether to distortthe tubing 3 into a substantially s herical shape,corresponding tothe walls 0 the die members and to also collapse thesame as at 6, whereby to positively secure the plate 5 centrally of thebearing.

In Fig. 6-I have illustrated a somewhat modified form of self-aligningbearing, in

that the outer casing 9 is collapsed as at 10 to form a central annularflange around the eriphery of the spherical outer casing 9, mstead ofsecuring a plate in place as shown in Fig. 2. Otherwise this bearingmember shown in Fig. 6 is identical with that shown in Fig. 2 and isfabricated and formed in substantially the samemanner.

In Fig. 5 I have diagrammatically illustrated one form of die structurefor forming this bearing and the same is provided with a locating andpositioning pilot 11 and the upper and lower diameter thereof issubstantially the'same as that shown in Fig. 1, with the exception thatthe recessed portions 1 are of less depth.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a novelself-lubricating,self-aligning bearing structure which is very compact and simple inconstruction and which may be directly secured as a single unit to theframe of an automobile chassis or the like. In the embodiment shown inFig. 2, the attaching plate forms a part of the bearing unit while inthe embodiment shown in Fig. 6 the bearing unit is provided with anannular flange by which it may be readily secured and located :in asuitable groove or by. other attaching means. 65 There are no splitmembers or no other adjustinexpensive and thatsuchbearin is asseming orattaching means necessary for scour-1,- ing this unitary aligningbearing in positiont will further be obvious that the bearing is formedof materials which are extremely 7o bled and formed by a hovel meth in asingle .operation. The cylindrical tubing is stamped into shapeand notonly forms a substantially spherical outer unit but also'lopk s'thebearing member in adjustable position,' compresses and positions thesecond layereof lubricant impregnated fibrous material around the innerbearing and either rigidly secures the supporting plate to the bearingor forms an annular flange to take the place thereof. 8 It will ;furtherby obvious that by my novel method of forming and assembling the hearingthat I am able to initially use a flat woven strip of impre ated fibrousmaterial which is automatical y compressed into sha e with thedistorting of the outer shell or tubmg. WhatIclaimis:

1. The method of forming self-lubricating, self-aligning bearings, whichcomprises inse'rting an inner spherical bearing member and an outerstrip of lubricant impregnated compressible material within a clindrical metallic member of predetermine length, and applying pressureto said cylindrical member to compress and shape said strip of materialand form the member into substantially spherical shape in one operation.1

2. The method of forming self-lubricating, self-aligning bearings, whichcomprises in serting an outer strlp of lubricant impregnated fibrousmaterial and an inner integral spherical bearing member within acylindrical metallic member of predetermined length, then applyingpressure toboth ends of said member to compress and shape said stri intoa substantially spherical bushing and co apse and form sai cylindricalunit into a substantially spherical shape in one operation, and at thesame time positively and adjustably locate said fibrous material andsaid spherical bearing member by said distortin action.

3. The method of forming selfubricating, self-aligning bearings, whichcomprises inserting a spherical bearing member within a predeterminedlength of metallic tubing of I self-aligning bearings, WhlCll comprisesinsorting a bearing member and a strip of lubricant impregnated fibrousmaterial within a substantially cylindrical metallic member ofpredetermined length, positioning a sup porting plate on the outside ofsaid cylindri- 13b 3 member to rigidly secure the said plate in position.

5. The method of forming self-lubricating,

self aligning bearings, which comprises inserting a bearing member and astri of Inbricant impregnated fibrous materia within a substantiallycylindrical metallic member of predetermined length, then applyinpressure to both ends of said member to istort said member into a shapeto lock and adjustably hold said bearing member in osition therein, andto distort a portion 0 a wall of said member to form an annular ridgearound the periphery thereof.

6. A self-lubricating, self-aligning bear- ".ing, comprising asubstantially spherical bearing member, an integral bearing membersubstantially spherical in shape and part- 1y enclosing said firstbearing member, and an annular layer of lubricant impregnated materialcompressed between the said two bearing members whereby to adjustablyhold and locate said first spherical bearing member within said secondintegral bearing mem- 7. A self-lubricating, self-aligning bearingmember, comprising as a single unit a s herical inner bearing member, asecond caring member of uniform wall thickness and also substantiallyspherical in shape partly enclosing said first bearing member, a stripof compressed lubricant impregnated fibrous material between the twomembers for resiliently and adjustably holding said first bearing memberin position, said outer bearing member having a portion of its-walldistorted to clamp and secure a supporting plate thereto. a

8. A self-lubricating, self-aligning bearlng member, comprising as asingle unit a spherical inner bearing member, a second bearing member ofuniform wall thickness and also substantially spherical in sha e partlyenclosing said first bearing mem er, a strip of compressed lubricantimpregnated fibrous material between the two members for resiliently andadjustably holding said first bearing member in position, said outerhearing member having a portion of 1ts wall distorted to form an annularflange to assist in securing the entire bearing member as a umt to itssupport.

9. A self-lubricating, self-aligning hearing, comprising a substantiallyspherical inner bearing member adapted to be held in.

fixed longitudinal position, an integral,

' stamped sheet metal bearing member substantially spherical in shapeand partly enclosing said firstbearing member, and a layer of lubricantimpregnated material substantially surrounding said inner bearing memberand ing, comprising a-substantially spherical inner bearing memberadapted to be held in fixed longitudinal position, an integral bearingmember substantially spherical in shape and partly enclosing said firstbearing member, and an annular layer of lubricant impregnated fibrousmaterial compressed between said two bearing members, said integralouter bearin positioned where y to ermanently lock and adjustably locatesaid ii rst spherical bearing memberin said second integral bearingmember, said outer bearing member having a portion of its wall distortedto form an annular flange to assist in securing the entire bearingmember as a unitto its support.

11. The method of forming self-lubricating, self-aligning bearings,which comprises inserting a bushing of compressible material within anouter bearing having a portion of its length substantially cylindricalin shape, inserting a non-cylindrical bearin member within said bushingwhereby said ushing is spaced between the inner bearing member and theouter bearing member, and then distorting-the cylindrical walls of saidouter member to form an outer bearing substantially spherical in shape,said distorting of said cylindrical portion of the outer member servingto compress and shape the bushin around the inner non-cylindrical memberan to positively locate and position said inner member.

12. The method of formin self-lubricating, self-aligning bearings, w ichcomprises positioning a bearing unit having a substantially sphericalouter surface and a lining of compressible material within a sheet metalouter bearing member, and then distorting the walls of said sheet metalouter member to shape the same and to simultaneously shape and compressthe material around the spherical surfaces of said inner bearing unit,the distorting of the outer sheet metal shell serv- 'ing to lock theinner bearing in position, and

member being shaped and 10. 'A self-lubricating, self-aligning bear- V vI material and com ress the same around the spherical walls 0 the innerbearing unit whereby the saidinnerbearing unit and the a fibrous bushingare positively and perma nently located within the distorted outer"member and whereby said compressed fibrousinaterial acts expansivelyagamst the nner unit and outer member. v 4

145. tself-lubricating, self-alignin been comprising an inner bearingunit avmg ing for receiving a relatively movable member, the outersurface of said inner unit 1 being substantially spherica lrin shape, an

integral bearing member substantiallyapherical in shape and partlyenclosing sal first bearing un1 t, and an annular layer of lubricantimpregnated fibrous materialv compressed between the substantiallyspherical surfaces of said inner unit and outer member,

said integral outer bearing member being so I shaped'as to permanentlylock and osition sai inner bearingunit within said integral outermember.

15. A self-lubricating, self-aligning bearing,- comprising an innerbearing member having a surface of longitudinally varying contour, asheet metal outer bearing member substantially spherical in shape, andan annular layer of lubricant impregnated material compressed betweenthe surfaces of said tw-o bearing members, said outer. sheet metalbearing member having a portion of its surface permanently distortedwhereby to adjustably but permanently lock the inner bearing memberinposition and to maintain said 7 fibrous material under compression.

16. A self-lubricating, self-aligning bearingyeomprising an innerbearing member i having a surface of longitudinally varying contour, asheet metal outer bearing'member substantially spherical in shape, abushing of compressible material substantially surrounding said innermember and compressed between the surfaces of said two hearing members,said outer sheet metal bearing member being integrall I formed andpermanently' shaped where y to maintain said bushin under compressionandzpermanently but a justably lock the inner bearing member inposition. I V V In testimony whereof I aflix my si nature.

NEWTON SKILL N.

